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Living Within Our Means
By Tim Siggia
February 20, 2003
Governor John G, Rowland, to his credit, has vetoed the state legislature's latest budget proposal which would have imposed significant tax hikes and re-hired all state employees, regardless of essentiality. Their case, largely scripted by the government employees' unions, is that as state employees have been wrongly stripped of their employment, so Connecticut is being stripped of the essential services these employees provide.
There is no argument, from any responsible source at least, that the majority of state employees are dedicated professionals who do provide essential services: teachers, health care workers, sanitation workers, and so on. There is also no argument with the idea that nobody likes receiving a pink slip, especially when the loss of one's job is through no fault of his or hers. Sad to say, but when layoff time comes, it seems the most essential people tend to be the first to be laid off. The state employees we never hear about are the ones whose positions were obtained primarily by being friends of buddies of pals. How many of these does Connecticut have? The state bureaucracy and the employees' unions will tell us none, of course. But one can only wonder when, for instance, Bruce Stevens of WTIC-AM aired his observation of a line of trucks from the Department of Transportation, each carrying a blinking arrow signalling drivers to merge to the right. That's right, Bruce Stevens of the liberal-spin Bruce & Colin Show.
To bring the idea closer to home, what does the average wage earner do when he sees his paycheck goes only so far? The answer is obvious: he scales down his lifestyle. If individuals can do this -- and most individuals do -- then what's the problem with government?
Connecticut is one of the most heavily taxed states in the nation, and now its residents are being told once again that their tax dollars just won't go far enough? Yet it seems that most other states are taxing their residents less, and getting by on those revenues. Obviously their legislators know something that ours have yet to learn. Has anyone in our legislature thought of looking at those other states to find out how they are able to live within their means?
About two weeks ago, my state senator sent out a circular asking for suggestions and recommendations for dealing with Connecticut's budget crisis, and I sent him an e-mail outlining basically what I have said in this column. To date I have received no response. I can only conclude from this that recommendations such as these are not what the Spendocrats want to hear.
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